Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Malaga can be regarded as some of the latest stages of a cultural route designed by French museums outside their borders. Their activities are manifold: travelling exhibits, co-production exhibits, loans of works, storage of works, brand licensing, co-branding, partnership agreements, engineering services (consulting and training), sale of image rights, sale of derivative products and museum creation. The cultural routes created through these various methods are ‘routes of influence’, synonymous with political influence at an international scale. Ultimately, they demonstrate a museum diplomacy that is part of France’s diplomacy of influence from a geopolitical perspective.